Process for separating the moisture from the constituent solids of liquids.



No. 878,977 PATENTED FEB. 11, 1908.

- L. G. & I. S. MERRELL & W. B. GERB. PROCESS FOR SEPARATING THEMOISTURE FROM THE CONSTITUENT SOLIDS 0F LIQUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 15,1907.

' rating th solids of small a percentage of moisture that such UNITEDSTATES PATENT -o1+1uo Lew s '0. MERRELL, IRVING-S. ERRELL, in) WILLIAMB.GERELOF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ssrcxoas r0 MERRELL-SOULE oonraxr, orSYRACUSE, NEW YORK, a CORPORATION OF NEW-YORK success for. snrmarmo mSpecification of Letters Patent. Applicationfiled July 16.1907. Boris]r6. 303.740. Z

are. 878,977.

To all iuhom it may concem:

Be it known that we, LEWIS 0. Manama,

. Invrxo S. Marmara, and WILLIAM B. GERE,

- "of Syracuse, 1n the county of ()nond a, in ,B/the' State of New York,haveinvente new and useful Improvements in Processes for SeparatingtheMoisture from the Constituent Solids of Liquids, of which thefollowing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawmgs, tion.-This invention relates to processfor sepae moisture from theconstituent liquids, and semi-liquids, and recoverin ,such solids in theform ofa substantia y dry powder, which may, by the addition ofsuitable. moisture, be reconstituted into a liquid or semi-lir uidpossessing all of the characteristics =oi the original liquidprsemi-liquid, and contemplates the commercial pu'lverization of animaland vegetable substances, including broadly, juices, )ulps, extractives,and highly organized so )slanees containing fern'lents, living cells, oractive organisms, as. yeast, .diastase and pepsin, and any, other liquidand semiliquid, the solids of which it is desirable to reduce todrynesswithout changing their chemical structure, and is for a'modification of the process set forth in our coppnding application filedAugust 29, 1906, i rial x0. 332,515. a

The object of this invention'is a process 'for desiccating above setforth, by which the atoms of -the material may be submitted to atemperature much higher than the tern'ierature at which the materialatoms would ordinaril caramelizc or be burned, and to that endit hasbeenfound necessary to strengthen the liquid prior to desiccation, or it inother words, amounts to a preliminary'rcmoval of.

I a considerable percent. of the moisture of the nnlk or othersubstance, so that the material While in the-form of a' spray, -Wlllcontain so moisture can be instantly taken up b the air or-gas in thedry state, in which'thc atter enters the dcs'iccating chamber. In our60. application heretofore referred to, it will be seentuat this isaccomplished by concentrat- MOIBTUBE {ROI 0]? LIQUIDS;

t have foun is a full, clear, and exact descripmay be used for suchpurpose,

liquids and semi liquids, as

was comrmmm' some irig the liquid prior to desiccation, but we that thesame results may be.ob-

tained by thickening the'liquid, or strengtheningit, inmilk, forexample, by the addition of a suitable quantity of milk, which beenpreviously dried, so as to put it into a viscid condition. We do not,however, limit ourselves to the use, for example, of dry milk forstrengthening milk, or even the powder of the same liquid, as it will beev1dent that a great many other materials Such as flour, sugar, and thelike, the particular object being to reduce the liquid to be dried to aviscid condition, which puts it in the same condition as, though a largepart of the moisture had been removed which may be Patent od Fob. 11,.1o0s".

accomplished, by adding flour, su ar, dry

milk, and the like,wso as to pro uce the specific gravit way of strengtlcning the liquids.

It would be impossibe t-o give the exact specific gravity at whichvarious liquids should be treated for the reason that each of themvarymnch in themselves, but taking as an example, whole milk, of a goodaverage uality, it has been .found that the best re: slilts are obtainedwhere it has been strengthsued to a degree of viscosi-tyat a densltyoffrom'l t to 15 Baum, although we' have found that fair results areobtainable with a preliminary strengthening to a density as ow as 10Baum. 0ur process will be readily understood from the accom anyingdrawings, which represent a vertica section partly in elevation, of theapparatus designed to carry out this process.

The i'natcrial to be treated is first put in the condition of viscositset forth, in anysuitahe way. f t is then placed in the reservoir 1where it passes through the pipe-2- into the desiccating chamber 3. Atthe introduction of the liquid into the desiccating-chamber it issubdivided'into minute particles by'forcing it through one or moresprayingdevices, as '-4-', preferably by means of. a pressure de-'.vice, as a pump 5 but it may be intro- .duced by gravityfrom thereservoir 1. The minute particles are caused to simul:

or densit asabove taneousl 'commingle with a misture-ab-' sorbin uent,as dry air, or air or as having an avidity for moisture, which1's"'o-rced by a pressure device, as a pum ber, .intercepting the pathof the inflowing liquid s ray, the intense evaporation produced t erebyupon the sphericalpsurface of the articles, causing a cooling effect 11on their solids. The air, either before or a ter entering the pump 6, ispreferably creasing its avidity and power for absorbing moistureprevious to its introduction into the desiccating chamber.

The dryin hamber -8 is provided with a stan pipe 10 having a valve *11,which 18 closed,'u on the initial introduction of the air into t edrying chamber to prevent the escape of the air toatmosphere throu h thepipe-10*, and o enedas'so0n as su cient water has been co ected in thedrying chamber to fill the stand pipe, which is tall enough to hold avolume of water capa ble of substantially counter-balancing the airpressure within the drying chamber, whereupon the excess of water 18free to drip continuouslyfrom the .open end of the stands-- 1 art of thedry powder resulting from desiccation maygravitate into a'rece tacle l2having an outlet'13- provide with a rotary gate 14, which maybe operatedmanually or by any' available ower to automaticallydischar e the dryproduct into a receptacle 1 5, w ile the moisture-laden air is 1passedthrough an air'pervious screen, as ho ting cloth, ,yvhich practicallyconfines within certain limits, the balance of the dry solids so thatthey may be collected and removed automatically, or at the will of therattendant. These .solids' may be separated from the moisture laden airin a rotary dust collector consisting of, in this instance, four 0tubular screen partitions 16 communicating throu h openings 17 with theinterior of t e desiccating chamber, each tubular screen havingits-outer end closed by a head l8 which is movable radially 56 ainst theaction of the spring 19. T dust collector is rotated lnteirnittently onequarter turn at a time, by suitable gears 20, one of'which, as thedriving gear,

is mutilated in such manner as, when rotated continuously, tocause theoenings 17- of the-=scree11 partition to e successively brought intoregistration with the open side of t e receptacle '21 in whichismovable,

a I w conveyor -22, forthe purpose of -6-, through. 5 the conduit -7into the esiccating cham removing the powder into a chute -23, whence itmay be discharged through a self closing valve 24 into areceptacle,'-n0t shown.

The mutilated driving gear 20 permits the screen partition to remain atrest, while" one of them, cut off from the desiccating chamber, isdischarging into the receptacle '21, and the others in communicationwith the desiccating chamber, are permitting the escape of themoisture-laden air andcollecting and retaining the desiccated product.

The powder, which may adhere to the sides of the discharging screenpartition, is removed, partly by agitation, and partly by suction, theagitating means consisting of a heater 25 acting upon thehead 18 throughthe medium of a spring -26-, and an operating. rod .27-, which isactuated. by a revolving toothed .rack-28 on the main driving shaft, as29. This toothed atethe beater while the screen partitions are at rest,and to cease such action immediately before the next quarter turn of thedust collector.

The removal of the powder from the discharging screen partition isfacilitated by a suction pump -30 having its inlet communicatlng withthe interior of the receptacle 21 and its outlet communicating through aconduit '-31., with the interior of the desiccating chamber, the mouthof the chute 23 being provided with a self-closing valve -24 to preventneutralization of the suction. D i In some instances, the moisture ladenair is returned to a drying chamber '8, whence its moisture having beenreduced, ,it is again introduced into the desiccatinlg chamber, and forthis purpose the dust co actor is inclosed in a suit-ab e casing -32-,having an outlet 433-, terminating in three branches '34-", -35 and -36;the branch 34 leading to'the inlet of the pump 6, while the otherbranches 35-, and -36 communicate with atmosphere; At the junction ofthese branches is placed a rotary valve or gate 37- which may beadjusted to open communication between the outlet .--33 and the branch.34, cutting off communication between the pump -'6 and atmosphere, 'orsuch valve may be adjusted to open communication between the outlet 33-and-atmosphere throughthe branches -35, and to establish similarcommunication between the branch '-34 and the branch -36, said valvebeing adjusted to any intermediate osition to open communication betweenbot the pump and interior of the casing 32' and atmosphere.

, The pum '5- is connected through a valve conduit to the conduit -7to'enable "rack is mutilated in such manner as to-actudry. heated airfrom, the chamber V the spraying device -14). iBy adjusting these"valves to admix the dry heated air with the dry "cool, air of anydesired temperature may be furnished to the spraying devices 4, oratmospheric, air, or air or 'gas having an avidity for moisture, may .bedrawn through a supplementary'valve con- I -Upon the introduction ofair. into the desiccating chamber, its temperature is considerablyreduced by the rapid evaporation of the moisture-content of thespray,.so that air of avery high temperature ma be introduced todesiccate liquids, the solic s of which will be impaired if heated tosuch ture in the original state, as for examp e, in the desiccation ofmilk, air of a temperature of from 300 to 400 F. may be used successfully, the air being reduced in temperature by theyapo'rization of the,moistur to from 140 F. to 200 F., both of these latter tem-, peraturesbeing above the coagulating point of milk albumen, but below thetemperature at which milk-sugar is caramelized without impairing in anydegree the original chemical or. physical temperature of the solids.

Air, lower in temperature than normal atmospheric air, may beintroducedinto the desiccating chamber, the heating device then serving,without heating said air above normal atmospheric temperature, only toexpand'it and increase its moisture-absorbing power, after it has beencooled and dried in the drying chamber; as, :for example,nitrostcrilized skim milk and this liquid sprayed into andeommingledwith dried a r-at a tem perature of, for example, F. thereby.

recovering-the bacteria alive an paired strength mingled with the--Liquids containi natural or emulsifi 2 state, in the presence of asuitable substance, asalbumen, may be desiccated without causin' the oleinous constituent to be rendere or melte out, owing to the effectroduced on the -sohds; as, for exai la, the buttersfat in w of unimmilksolids.

cream retainsm glo ular form, when the a cream is reduced toad cit-maybeemulsified with gum arabic and the liquid reduced to a 'taining the oilsthat the powder is not reas'y. flhe temperature of the air with whichthe dry powder comes; in contact is referably, ting point of theoleaginous constituent; as, l ple, milk, containing its full naturalbutterfat constituent may be reduced to powder,

which, wheudiy, may be exposed a tem erafats 0!. oils either inforexampump '-5 whence l perature as high as 212 F. without pump being alsoconnected to the -7 by an auxiliary valve conduit .39, avoiding theheater dry powder," re

readily seen that original condition. I .Dry' powder may be producedwithout pasteurizatlon or sterilization, results which substance treatechanging the globular form of its butter-fat.

The removal of the moisture, or the strengthening of the liquid by theintroduc tion of forth, is for the purpose of putting the liquid in-aviscid condition and the consequent cooling of the solids, isaccomplished so ra idly as to prevent self-impairment of t e solidsowing to the concentration of, active non-volatile constituents, as forillustration, lactic acid in milk is reventedfrom combining appreciablywith the saits of the milk uring evaporation of the moisture, and conseuent concentration of. the acid.

l rom the fore oing description, it will be by strengthening thematerial prior to final desiccation the material may be desiccated by amomentary contact with the drying agent,

the materials, as hereinbefore set.

and at a very high temperature, and the cooling effect oft e rapidevaporation will prevent excessi" e heating ofthe solid constituentsduring such treatment,

though the temperature .be suchas would 'eflect .a chemical change werethe treatment of any given atom prolonged. As a consequence theresulting product retains 'allof the solids of the liquid in its normalstate, practically all of the moisture having been removed by reasonofour ability to accomplish the act of neously, so that by the addition ofa .roper amount of moisture,

would be produced were the solid constituents subjected forany-considerable time to a tem erature such as employed and contemplateby this process.

What we claim is:

1. The process of ()btaihin-dihe solid constituents of liquids andsemi-liquids in the form ofpowder, which process consists in dryingalmost instanta .05; it may be restore to its rendering said liquidsviscous by the addition of a compatible material, thenconverting themixture intoa fine spray,'bringing such spray into a current of'd air.or; as having an avidity for moisture so that substantially all theremaining liquid constituents are separated thereby, conveying the drypowder into a suitable collecting space away from powder, or castor theair or gas current, and dischargin the air or gas separately fromthe dryow er.

'2. The process of obtaining t e solid constituents of liquids andsemi-liquids in the form ofa dry powder, which process consists inrendering said liquids viscous by the addit1on of a compatible material,then convertmg the liquid material into aspray, bri such spray into acurrent of heated a r 0 gas having an avidiijy for the moisture of-- theretaining the atoms momezitsi-rily in said current so that substanl inwitnss whereof we have hereunto set 10 'ed by the coo ing 'efiect 0'such evapdiati n tially all of the remaining moisture is 0011 our handsthis 13th day of July 1907 vetted into W! or and the roduct is prayent-%I I C S %PELI J N i i! from undergoing chemmfiglshange, conveying I thedry powder into iii;- s iitable collecting v L W s ac-e away from thevaporizing current and Witnesses: discharging the air or gasseparateiyfrom the H. E. CHASE,

dry powder. 1 HOWARD P. DENISON

